Voluntary Planning

Voluntary Planning regrets to announce the departure of Clare Robinson from the volunteer Natural Resources Project Committee. Clare has been offered and has started a new job at the Nova Scotia Department of Environment. Voluntary Planning would like to congratulate Clare and wish her well in her new role where she will no doubt bring the same energy and enthusiasm that she brought to the Voluntary Planning process. Clare’s departure from the Project Committee, while unfortunate, was arrived at based on a sincere desire to avoid any conflicts of interest both real and perceived.

We thank Clare for her excellent contribution to this committee. Best of luck Clare!

On February 25th, the department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage unveiled their completed Heritage Strategy. This strategy was the final product that saw much of its origins in the Voluntary Planning Heritage Strategy Task Force.

The Heritage Strategy Task Force worked for over a year, conducting public meetings across the province, reading and reviewing public submissions, and reviewing worldwide research. The final report of the task force was issued in December 2006. The report contained 59 recommendations that were intended to inform the creation of the final strategy.

Voluntary Planning would like to thank the task force members who served on the committee, the stakeholders who provided presentations and all Nova Scotians who took the time to write or attend a public meeting.

Voluntary Planning is pleased to announce and release its new website. The web has become a primary source of information gathering for many Nova Scotians and Voluntary Planning endeavors to make its site as effective and efficient as possible for the public and government alike.

The goals of the new website include:

• Increased ease of access to information and reports
• Increased ease of access to contact information
• More regular news updates
• Increased interactivity
• Inclusion of a Blog for casual, frequent updates on projects, news and items of interest

Voluntary Planning would welcome feedback on the new website, please forward your thoughts to Dan O'Rourke (orourkdj@gov.ns.ca).

Voluntary Planning welcomes Dave Duncan, Wolfville to the project committee that will be engaging Nova Scotians in discussions about the future of the province's natural resources, specifically forests, minerals, parks and biodiversity. Dave brings to the volunteer committee an extensive background in the mining industry, with experience at the provincial, national and international levels. View Dave's bio.